Argo felt like there was a part of him that missed being on stage.
He desired to be one with the audience. He wanted them to become crazy over his performance. So much so that they would not hesitate to offer him their hearts on a silver platter. He wanted people to get riled up in his name.
He was surrounded by so many people who shouted his name. But all he could hear at this point was the sound of his own heartbeat. He could also hear the breaths he was taking in his lungs.
Argo stopped playing the guitar and closed his eyes. He then placed his hand on his heart. The young demon wanted to feel his heartbeat more clearly.
Argo often liked to express his freedom-seeking individuality in various forms. And tonight, music was his way to do just that.
The demon prince's soul fragment inside him took over when he opened his eyes.
Hahahaha! I'mma play some of my originals and then borrow some from my homies. There ain't nobody DMCAing my ass here.'
Argo cackled to himself as a gust of wind surrounded him. His red eyes sparkled and he took to the air with eagle wings on his back.
"Woooooooah! How are the fine people of this land doing out here?
"First of all... Give it up for our teach- Wise Tortoise- Almost-a-Sage-with-age- Grandmaster Amory Stowage! We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."
Argo laughed and threw a question at his audience and received more yells and screams in response. The demon stared at the people with sharp eyes and continued.
"And now... rejoice! This prince has come to greet you."
Argo said as if he had done a favor for his audience. And everyone in the audience believed it to be the case. A strange demonic atmosphere was now prevalent in the air, making rankers express their emotions to their fullest.
Wah Wah Chika Wah Wah
Argo "borrowed" another riff from somewhere and played it a bit before announcing the artists with him.
"Let me introduce you to my drummer for the evening. I know you know him from somewhere. But after tonight, he won't need another introduction.
Very talented but a bit shy with the ladies- My man- the T-dawg, Tuan Aag!"
A man with Fire Wings suddenly appeared in the sky. He flew towards the flying Argo and punched him in the gut in a playful manner. Tuan Aag wasn't as confident as Argo when summoned on stage. So he bowed awkwardly to the audience and hoped he would not mess up the gig.
"Damn! A punch outta nowhere, huh! Who hurt you, bro?"
Argo missed another punch thrown at him by Tuan in midair before answering his own question.
"I know. I know. There's this cheating bitch who's dead. And there's another who dumped you. I say GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE!
It all happens for a reason, my man. Fret not. After tonight, I'mma make you drown in pu.... Uhhhh... Never mind. Hahahaha!"
Argo laughed and took joy in Tuan's awkwardness on stage. He flew across the stage before introducing the next set of artists.
A day before the concert, Argo had contacted a bunch of members of the White Raven guild. He trained them for various main roles and support roles needed for his concert. The demon introduced the members with an on-stage presence and gave credit to the off-stage artists by calling out their names.
Bianka Bluedust, Rodrick Renar, Will Evaan, Tara Faelar, Bhaa Laah, and a few others had been selected as on-stage music artists. Bilo, Katalina, and a few others had been hired as dance artists, which would only make appearances for a select few songs.
Rankers like Tumko Darata, Drin Dawn, Ray Rinehart, Van Wilder, and a few others also supported the concert in their own way by being off-stage artists and managers. One had to appreciate Argo's people skills for getting so many rankers on board with his plan.
"Aight! Now that the introduction is over..."
Argo took a long pause before speaking hurriedlyâ€" "I'mma go home!" He even flew backstage to scare the audience with his fake exit.
Various mana pulses surged all at once when Argo tried to mess with his audience a bit. The demon beast laughed before coming clean.
"Hahaha! I was just messing with y'all. Let's start this shit already."
Bumbadum chicka Chicka bum bada!
A magical atmosphere began to take shape as everybody assumed their roles for the concert. After it started, it drove listeners' minds insane by the minute. They soon became addicted to the music they heard.
It was as if a special kind of demonic spell had been cast on them.
***
Eren's room. Kukenan Plateau. Midnight.
It seemed that the full moon night was filled with strange energy and vibrancy. Argo's concert was still carrying on. The sound waves of his concert would travel a significant distance and make everyone who listened to them dance or sing to the beats.
Eren wasn't paying attention to Argo's concert though. The mana control training was keeping him busy.
The butcher was laying topless on the elemental shards that tore through his back. Alephee was operating the array and observing his progress at the same time. She had obviously upped the difficulty level of the mana control training once again, preventing Eren from ever finding it to be easy or painless.
Eren had sealed his lips with runes to prevent himself from screaming in pain. He was sweating all over and his eyes had turned red. Since he couldn't scream, his eyes had become a bit moist to express the suffering he was experiencing. It also made him take long breaths that made his chest rise and fall in quick succession.
Alephee had tuned into the live concert through the communication array. A corner table in Eren's room projected a spectral representation of what was happening on stage in miniature form. The spectral imagery had a sound of its own that blended with ambient noise from a long distance and created a reverberating effect.
"Eren, do you want to stop here?"
Alephee asked as she looked at Eren's condition. She had told him to take a day off because of the concert. But the guy wouldn't listen. So she was stuck with him instead of attending the concert live.
The butcher also felt like maybe he should listen to Alephee and stop the process midway. But then he heard someone call out to him in his head.
"Yo boss!"
Eren and Alephee both looked in the corner table's direction to see Argo's spectral form looking at them. He was still holding strong with his concert from the looks of things, keeping his audience captivated.
Argo's spectral form looked at Eren as if he could see him before speaking further.
"Wherever you are, this one's for you. Listen up."
Eren and Alephee both looked at each other before coming to a tacit understanding to take a break. The butcher looked at Argo intently. The young demon closed his eyes and modulated his voice in real-time to suit the texture required to sing the kind of song he was above to sing.
Argo's voice sounded different when he sang the lyrics of the song dedicated to Eren.
"Carry on my wayward son..."
Eren clenched his hands while lying on the elemental shards as he listened to Argo's song. He then stared at the ceiling of his room that had become his most-seen view of the month.
As Argo sang, Eren continued to look lifelessly at the ceiling. He remained quiet for a while when the song was finished. Argo moved on to singing and playing more songs for his audience. But Eren didn't pay attention to any of those anymore.
Argo kept dedicating various songs to various people he had come to know. He knew that most of them would be watching the concert somewhere. So he took the liberty to sing, perform, and dedicate songs to them that weren't technically his own.
By this time, Eren's condition had gotten somewhat normal due to non-moving elemental shards. But then he looked at Alephee, as if answering the question she had asked him.
Alephee looked at Eren solemnly before sighing to herself. She then cranked up the difficulty level of the training even more than before, hearing Eren's muffled screams and inaudible determination in the backdrop. Wt
AN: Argo takes the liberty to dedicate Styx - Renegade to Ivor, The Rasmus - In The Shadows to Drin Dawn, Godsmack - Voodoo to Eliza, Lifehouse - You and Me to Nina, Nickelback - She Keeps Me Up to Agatha, Imagine Dragons - Whatever It Takes to Alephee, and Derek and the Dominos - Layla to Layla.
A few more dedications for Eren would be Nathaniel Rataliff - S.O.B., Godsmack- I stand Alone, and lastly, K / DA - Villain. You can dedicate songs to various VEH characters in the comments as well. ;)
